Greek cruise line to be sued over shipwreck

Greek authorities have announced plans to sue the owners of a
Greek cruise ship that sank near the island of Santorini, fearing a
serious blow to the booming local tourist economy from oil
pollution.

"We feel it is our obligation to take legal action," island
governor Chrysanthos Roussos said today.

"We need to ensure that the ship's owners take responsibility
for the clean-up operation," he said.

The Greek-flagged Sea Diamond hit a charted reef near the tiny
island port on Thursday local time and sank at dawn on Friday in
the bay of Athinio, descending to a depth of between 90 and 140
metres, the merchant marine ministry said.

The location of the shipwreck complicates both efforts to drain
the ship's fuel tanks, and the search for two French tourists
believed to have been trapped on board during the accident, when
the Sea Diamond listed and its water-tight doors began closing.

"Divers cannot be used in these conditions, special deep-sea
machinery needs to be brought in," a ministry press officer told
AFP.

Though the local authorities insist Santorini's pristine beaches
are located far from the shipwreck and are not threatened by oil
slicks, anti-pollution ships and an aircraft have been operating on
the site since Thursday.

"This is an unheard-of situation for our island," a local
fisherman said.

An oil slick 100 metres wide that appeared on Thursday has
already been removed, the ministry said.

"We are told that the situation is under control," Roussos
said.

Net said the 143-metre cruise ship still contains an estimated
400 tonnes of fuel, and there is concern that currents may push the
ship deeper into Santorini's fabled caldera, a basin formed by
volcanic eruption 3,500 years ago.

"It is imperative to drain the fuel tanks as oil will be seeping
out, and if the ship sinks to the bottom this will no longer be
possible," George Nikolaidis, a professor of physical chemistry at
the Technological Educational Institute of Piraeus, told the
station.

One of Greece's top tourist destinations, Santorini is visited
by hundreds of thousands of tourists every year.

The Sea Diamond's captain and five officers on Saturday were
charged with causing a shipwreck through negligence, breaching
international shipping safety regulations and polluting the
environment, a Greek judicial official said.

As the charges are at misdemeanour level and carry a maximum
sentence of five years, the unnamed suspects were subsequently
released pending further investigation.

But the captain faces more questioning over the fate of the two
missing tourists and more charges could be forthcoming, news
reports said.

State television reported that the captain ruled out mechanical
failure and said the ship was likely pushed onto the reef by a sea
current.

The captain's log has been recovered, Greek media said.

The search continues for the missing French pair,
Jean-Christophe Allain, 45, and his 16-year-old daughter Maud from
the region of Angers in western France, whose cabin was near the
collision point.

"Nothing has been found so far," the ministry officer said.

Greek navy divers on Thursday failed to locate the missing
tourists after breaking the porthole of their cabin.

Based on the captain's assurances, the Greek authorities
initially said a three-hour operation to evacuate the Sea Diamond's
around 1,600 passengers and crew had been a complete success.

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